*Gunners stars Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott are in the squad, although Chilean superstar Alexis Sanchez didn’t make the trip to Sydney.

WHAT THEY SAID

Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold:

“Arsenal is a club that a lot of football coaches in Australia would look at and admire the way they play. In a lot of ways we try to replicate what they do in the way they play the game.

“We know it will be a massive crowd and there will probably be more Arsenal fans than Sydney FC but it’s for the good of the game in this country.

“We played Liverpool not that long ago and there was 80,000 people there. To get the clubs like Arsenal to come out and promote football in our country is big for us."

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger

“I don’t know a lot about them [Sydney FC] but I know they have been very successful. We don’t have the privilege to watch Australian football in England.

“It will be good to have to try and adapt quickly to a team that we don’t know and I believe that’s part of pre-season as well.

“I’m sure we’ll meet two teams of quality and two teams that will play with plenty of enthusiasm against us to show their level. It will be difficult games.”

PREDICTION

It’s never easy to predict what’s going to eventuate in what is a first pre-season hit-out for both teams. But it should be a wonderful occasion in what should be an entertaining clash in front of a huge and noisy crowd in Sydney’s west.